Abstract
Piperine, one of the main constituents of black pepper, is an important marker of black pepper quality because of its bio-activity and characteristic flavour. Ultraviolet spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection were used for rapid determination of piperine in black pepper. The performance parameters and measurement uncertainties of the methods were estimated to identify the most efficient method. Ultraviolet spectroscopy had good specificity and linearity. Its limit of detection was 0.65. Accuracy and precision ranged from 96.7 to 101.5% and from 0.59 to 2.12%, respectively. Measurement uncertainty was estimated as 4.29% for 49.481 g/kg (k = 2). High-performance liquid chromatography also provided good specificity and linearity. The limit of detection was 0.23. Accuracy and precision were 98.2-100.6% and 0.83-1.58%, separately. Measurement uncertainty was calculated as 2.47% for 34.819 g/kg (k = 2). High-performance liquid chromatography is more sensitive and accurate than ultraviolet spectroscopy.